Quadcopter
- Thread starter MikeD
- Start date
Boots2Wings
Just happy to be here.
Actually yes, the altitude part not the duration. At 14k climbing in southern utah i had one pass our right wing within about 10 feet...reported to atc that there was certainly a drone at this altitude, which was met with alot of skepticism and confusion. FO saw it as well.
Edit: and it was clearly a quadcopter, although larger than i have ever seen commercially available....even had 4 flashing red/white beacons on the motors.
Edit: and it was clearly a quadcopter, although larger than i have ever seen commercially available....even had 4 flashing red/white beacons on the motors.
Murdoughnut
Well sized member
Beefy McGee
Well-Known Member
Over 50 miles? It was keeping up with you?
NovemberEcho
Dergs favorite member
Not me personally since my airspace stops at 10k but others in the building have had drone reports between 11-17k. For me between 2-7k is very common during the summer, like 1-2 reports a week common.
Last night, there was one just east of KTUS at about 1200’ AGL cruising eastbound. It passed about 30’ away co-altitude with a police helicopter flying the opposite direction. Helo made a 180 turn to give chase. The quad copter was described as approximately 5 feet long by about 3 feet wide, with a single green flashing LED light. It continued east into KDMAs airspace and began orbiting the base over the parallel taxiway near the fighter jet ramp. TUS and DMA towers were unaware of it, as was U90 controllers. The operator apparently realized by this time that the drone was being followed, because it then proceeded northwest at high speed and climbing, with the helo and another LE helo in trail. The copter began to climb and flew out of the TUS area about 50 miles to the northwest of town into the middle of nowhere desert out by the mine west of KAVQ. It was last seen climbing through 14,000’ and into the undercast, where it disappeared. The helos remained in VMC obviously, and one hung around for about an hour, to see if it would reappear descending, or if there was any vehicles driving through the middle of nowhere as either the operator or someone to potentially recover it. Neither appeared. U90 informed their FAA chain of command about it, but that’s as far as I’ve heard so far.
interesting in both the range and the altitude, both control-wise in terms of line of sight, as well as battery life as it comes to the endurance of the thing. The concerns with it being around air traffic and a near mid-air, as well as it being over an Air Force base with security sensitive aircraft, are all all concerning. Definitely not something commercial off-the-shelf that one would buy at the local store.
interesting in both the range and the altitude, both control-wise in terms of line of sight, as well as battery life as it comes to the endurance of the thing. The concerns with it being around air traffic and a near mid-air, as well as it being over an Air Force base with security sensitive aircraft, are all all concerning. Definitely not something commercial off-the-shelf that one would buy at the local store.
BobDDuck
Island Bus Driver
The battery life is the issue mostly. Retrofitting an off the shelf high end model to utilize satellite data for control is pretty basic if you know what you are doing. Going that high isn't really a problem either.
NovemberEcho
Dergs favorite member
Asking out of ignorance, is it possible/feasible to use rc gas engines for longer duration on a home built drone?
BobDDuck
Island Bus Driver
I honestly don't know, but I'd guess that a gas engine probably wouldn't have the level of controllability that is required to keep the quad props spinning at the correct rate for controllable flight. Electric motors are way more precise.
Minuteman
“Dongola”
Kinda. The combustion engine and generator scales in weight roughly at the same rate of power it contributes at smaller scales. Maybe there's a scenario where the gas engine provides a sustainer portion of lift while the electrical system handles peaking and maneuvering (eliminating the generator)?
Murdoughnut
Well sized member
If it was over a USAF base, and the USAF didn't care, it's probably because it belongs to the USAF
They did care, I just haven’t see what has been done via their chain of command specifically. Not sure if these have been any kind of problem stateside yet, that has gotten specific attention from them regarding a response.
ahw01
Well-Known Member
The next frontier in drone warfare? A Soviet-era crop duster
Azerbaijan showed during the battle for Nagorno-Karabakh that even an old Soviet-era crop duster could be repurposed and used effectively in drone warfare—another example of how militaries continue to find innovative ways to employ increasingly autonomous systems.
thebulletin.org
NovemberEcho
Dergs favorite member
The next frontier in drone warfare? A Soviet-era crop duster
Azerbaijan showed during the battle for Nagorno-Karabakh that even an old Soviet-era crop duster could be repurposed and used effectively in drone warfare—another example of how militaries continue to find innovative ways to employ increasingly autonomous systems.
this just further advances my theory that the AN-2 is the greatest aircraft ever made. There is almost nothing it can’t do.
FlyingAccountant
Well-Known Member
I wonder if it's related to the incidents Palo Verde experienced back a couple years ago. Same sort of deal, only there were multiple UAVs. They seemed to also be more capable than your run of the mill hobby drones.
www.thedrive.com
The Night A Mysterious Drone Swarm Descended On Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant
The mysterious case of mass drone incursions over America's most powerful nuclear power plant that only resulted in more questions and no changes.
www.thedrive.com
Made The Drive…..
www.thedrive.com
Border Patrol Helicopter Had Bizarre Encounter With Mysterious "Highly Modified" Drone (Updated)
The mystery drone flew up to 14,000 feet and was tracked for over an hour. Now the FBI is investigating.
www.thedrive.com
What’s disconcerting is that there’s some serious stuff that could be under threat here, or could’ve been that night. For example, whenever AF1 is in western USA, the Boeing E-4 Nightwatch (below) will show up at DMA or a couple of other bases, and sit on the ramp, on alert with its APU always running and partially manned, ready to go if needed. At DMA, it can be easily seen, when it’s here, on the transient ramp from the junkyards across the base or from Golf Links road bridge to the northwest. As much free reign this drone had in buzzing around the base as well as everywhere else around the city, had it had explosives onboard, it could’ve done some serious damage, or worse, to a National command-level asset.
fholbert
Mod's - Please don't edit my posts!
FlyingAccountant
Well-Known Member
This is troubling. There were some recent reports of drones screwing around with some USN destroyers off the coast of SoCal too.
I still have a hard time believing this is the work of hobbyists.
Can you track a drone with modern A/A fighter jet radar?
I still have a hard time believing this is the work of hobbyists.
Can you track a drone with modern A/A fighter jet radar?
